17 Years Ago Today

One of the Greatest Men that ever walked the earth left his family to be with the Lord.

I vividly remember it, as if it were yesterday.

A year from today, will be 18 years. A year from today, my father will be gone as long as I knew him. This crushes my heart and cripples me. Technically I suppose that is the peak, and then it will seem like I didn't have much time with him at all as the years go by. I don't see it that way. There isn't a day in my life that I don't hear his voice, use his guidance, get lost in my memories, see a man that spoiled his wife and treated her like a princess, and use it as a model of how my daughter and I should be treated. See a man that put his family first in every single thing that he did. See a man that raised his girls to be independent, and never expect someone else to take care of them. I see a man that taught his children how to work for what they wanted. I see a man who paid me $4.00 an hour-not for the money, but to teach me responsibility. I see a man that taught me how to swim, ride a horse, ride a bike, and well....send me to driving school. I see a man who loved to love on his kids. Hugs and hugs and hugs and kisses galore. Holding hands. Taking Sunday afternoon naps. I could go on and on.

Sounds like a lifetime, doesn't it. It is a lifetime for me. He had no idea when he was 47 that he was going to die at 48, but you know what? He lived his life like everyday was his last. Not in a destructive way, but in a legacy way. Simply the Best as my mother always says....